ámsterdam ámsterdam la ciudad ha ido creciendo como un parabrisas, comiendo terreno al agua. // ENG The city has grown like a windscreen, eating away at the water. © Alexey Protasov/Gettyimages © Jan Van der Wolf/Gettyimages ENG In 1997, Amsterdam crossed its own borders. It grew bigger. One of the most ambitious engineering and urban planning projects in the whole of Europe was launched: the IJburg neighbourhood - a series of artificial islands covering a total of 220 hectares that would be home to 45,000 residents and 18,000 dwellings. In 2004, the first residents arrived on the new islands of Steigereiland, Haveneiland and Rieteilan- den, just 15 minutes from Central Station. For a city like Amsterdam, celebrating its 750th anniver- sary in 2025, surrounded by water and inundated with city centre tourism – it receives 23 million visitors a year – grow- ing while remaining a pleasant city for locals and foreigners alike was a challenge. Back in 1965, architects Van den Broek and Bakema were keen to build new neighbourhoods on arti- ficial islands, but it was not until the late 1990s that the pro- ject began to take shape, following a public consultation that rejected the proposal, but saw this outcome was dismissed due to a lack of quorum. Today, IJburg is a global benchmark for sustainable urban growth. ‘IJburg represents a sustaina- ble and forward-looking approach, with waterfront homes, green spaces and a wide range of housing types. These new neighbourhoods create opportunities for urban expansion and non-traditional design,’ say VMX Architects, the studio behind the S House, one of the most striking homes in the new neighbourhood. Not only is IJburg an example of environmental balance, but it is also seen as an architectural laboratory for float- ing houses, buildings that seem to grow out of the lake and homes on stilts. ‘Architects and landowners have been giv- en free rein to build,’ explains Niels Nannes, an architectural historian and expert on the new neighbourhood. ‘There are houses made of wood, glass, straw, corten steel, aluminium and brick, some inspired by the Amsterdam School... The land is owned by the city council, which rents out the plots and imposes regulations so that the buildings have similar cornic- es and the same height,’ he adds. But one of the buildings that breaks the mould is Sluishuis, designed by the Barcode and BIG architecture studios, a large housing complex that is home to 442 residents with views of the lake and which functions almost as a port in itself. A large aluminium façade, wooden terraces and a sailing and water sports school on the ground floor make this building a rarity to be emulated. ‘Sluishuis has been designed as another block in the centre of Amsterdam floating on the IJ lake [...]. A build- ing within the harbour, with a harbour within the building,’ explains Bjarke Ingels , from the BIG studio. Growing northwards and from within Urban planning has always played an essential role in munic- ipal management in Amsterdam. In fact, since its origins as a fishing village to the canal city it is today, the capital of the Netherlands has grown ‘like a windscreen’, as historian Geert Mak put it, eating into the water. But it has not only built artificial islands; it has also looked to its own edges to move northwards. “Amsterdam Noord is a multifaceted neighbourhood, ranging from skyscrapers and new developments on the IJ coast to the rich history of social housing for workers in the garden cities and the cultural vitality of NDSM Art City. This unique neighbourhood is undergoing rapid gentrification,” explains Andreas Nikolopoulos, architect and program- mer at the Arcam Museum, which focuses on the analysis of urban planning and architecture in the city. This area in northern Amsterdam, accessible by ferry, is a district devoted to underground art, not only with NDSM Art City, a former shipyard filled with exhibitions, artists’ studios and alternative cafés, but also with Straat, Europe’s first large graffiti museum, covering 8,000 m 2 and featuring works by 150 international artists. Straat was opened in 2024 by the monarchs of the Netherlands and Spain, and during the visit, King William described it as ‘raw, daring and totally original. How can we top this?’ Amsterdam always finds a way. Arriba, atracción áerea y observatorio en A’dam Lookout, en Ámsterdam Noord. Abajo, el espacio artístico NDSM Art City . // Above, aerial attraction and observatory at A’dam Lookout in Amsterdam Noord. Below, the NDSM Art City art space. ámsterdam Vuelos // Flights: Dos vuelos al día programa Air Europa entre Madrid y la ciudad holandesa. Conocer sus nuevos barrios está mucho más cerca de lo que imaginabas. // Air Europa operates two flights a day between Madrid and the Dutch city. Discovering its new neighbourhoods is much closer than you thought. www.aireuropa.com